The following recipe was submitted by Hi Cookery in honor of the feast of St. Patrick. Thank you Highlander and Islander!

March 17: Feast Day of St. Patrick

How lucky and blessed are those who can taste some homemade shamrock-shaped shortbread on the Feast Day of St. Patrick. He used a three-leaf clover, which grows abundantly in Ireland, to teach the pagans about the Holy Trinity—God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and convert them to Christianity in the fifth century. Inspired by the sweet symbolism, we baked shamrock-shaped shortbread sprinkled with green sugar crystals that sparkle like emeralds from the isle of the Irish patron saint. Honor St. Patrick and his evangelistic efforts and make Celtic-style clover cookies.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter until fluffy. Mix in the cornstarch and sugar and blend well. Gradually mix in the flour until a cookie dough is formed.

Tint with green food coloring to the desired shade. Roll the dough into a ball, place in a covered bowl and refrigerate till firm (about an hour). Divide the dough into two or three smaller pieces. Place between sheets of waxed paper. Roll each to ¼-inch thickness. Cut with shamrock-shaped cookie cutters. Place on greased baking sheet at least an inch apart. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Re-roll the dough scraps, place between sheets of waxed paper, roll to ¼-inch thickness and refrigerate for another 15 minutes or until firm. Continue cutting out shapes and refrigerating.

Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with green sugar sprinkles. Bake in a preheated oven at 275 degrees F for 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

While this shortbread recipe is tasty, we prefer other sugar cookie doughs that are easier to handle. This one requires lots of chilling time and patience in order for the cookies to hold their shape. They do spread out a little in the oven but the puffiness goes down toward the end of the baking cycle.

Irish butter is creamier and more yellow than the domestic one. This may have affected the dough being more moist than other recipes.

Add a little flour to the work surface or waxed paper so the dough does not stick too much.

Baking time is longer for this recipe because it has a lower heat (275 instead of 350 degrees).

Search our blog for other shortbread, cookies and other Irish-inspired recipes for St. Patrick’s Day. We also recommended browsing for more feast day food ideas from Catholic Cuisine.

Steam all vegetables until tender, about 15 minutes. Arrange vegetables and apples around edge of large platter.
Meanwhile, toss cheese with flour in large bowl. Bring 3/4 cup stout, juice concentrate, and mustard to simmer in large saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add cheese mixture, stirring constantly, until cheese is melted and smooth, thinning with more stout, if desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer fondue to bowl. Place in center of platter with vegetables.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the chopped onion and saute until soft and translucent. Remove the onion from the heat.
Now set your kids to work peeling the apples while you peel, seed, and chop the squash. Core and chop the peeled apples.
Add the apples, squash, juice or cider, and chicken stock to the onions and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer partially covered for 25 minutes.
Add the brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt and pepper. Puree the soup, reheat, and serve. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Place the corned beef along with the pickling spices, onion and garlic in a slow cooker/crock-pot, top with the Guinness and cook on low until fork tender, about 8-10 hours.

Set the corned beef aside, strain the solids from the Guinness and juices, place the liquid into a large sauce pan, add the brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, bring to a boil reduce the heat and simmer to reduce by half, about 15-20 minutes.

Cut the fat layer from the corned beef, glaze with the Guinness glaze and bake in a preheated 400F oven until the glaze starts bubbling, about 10-15 minutes.

Toss carrots and 1/4 cup glaze in large bowl to coat. Sprinkle carrots with salt and pepper. Roast until carrots are tender, brushing occasionally with more glaze, about 35 minutes. Transfer to platter, garnish with parsley.

Combine milk, butter, sugar and salt. Add water. then add yeast (dissolved according to package directions). Mix well. Blend in the egg. Gradually add flour. Mix until dough is well blended and soft. Shape dough into small balls on a well-floured board. Place 3 balls in a greased muffin tin cup. Let rise about 1 ½ to 2 hours in a warm place or until double in bulk.

Stir cake mix with pudding. Add 1 tsp almond extract. Add water and oil to the mix. Then add extract. Add the eggs, one at a time, using low speed of mixer. Beat 5 minutes. Grease a large angel food cake or bundt pan. Bake at 350°F for 45 to 50 minutes. Cool, then remove from pan.

Peel potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch dice. Add potatoes to a large saucepan of boiling water and boil 6 minutes, or until just tender. Drain.
In a large non-stick skillet cook onion and garlic in butter over moderate heat, stirring, until onion is golden.

Heat butter in a pan set on medium-low-ish heat.
Drop the pepper rings, heretofore known as shamrocks, into the pan.
Crack an egg into a bowl and pour it gently into a shamrock. Repeat for each shamrock, or crack the eggs straight into the shamrocks.

Drop a couple tablespoons of water into the pan and cover immediately to trap in the steam. If you have a glass cover, watch for the eggs to firm up, or just lift the cover and peek after about 3-5 minutes. This will create the perfect sunny-side up eggs.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Butter a 9- by 2-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flours, wheat germ, salt, sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar in a large bowl until combined well. Blend in butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Make a well in center and add buttermilk, stirring until a dough forms. Gently knead on a floured surface, adding just enough more flour to keep dough from sticking, until smooth, about 3 minutes.

Transfer dough to cake pan and flatten to fill pan. With a sharp knife, cut an X (1/2 inch deep) across top of dough (5 inches long). Bake until loaf is lightly browned and sounds hollow when bottom is tapped, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack and cool, right side up, about 1 hour.

Over medium heat, saute bacon and onion in a small skillet until bacon is crisp and onion is golden. Saute greens. Whisk eggs, cream, and spices in mixing bowl..

Stir greens and the bacon mixture into the egg mixture. Spread evenly in the prepared crust and place pan on a baking sheet. Spread with cheese.

Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Serve immediately.

Note: Shamrock pan can be made from disposable aluminum mini cake pans. Bend pans to look like shamrock leaves. Then cut ends, so you can put three of the pans together. Cut the sides down to 1½ inches. Tape the three pans together. Place pan on a cookie sheet, since it will be unstable.

Mash the boiled potatoes with butter and cream until smooth. Season with kosher salt and black pepper to taste. Mix in the cooked kale or greens and the egg, stirring to evenly distribute. Cover and let chill in refrigerator at least one hour or overnight.

When ready to cook, place flour in a shallow dish and season with salt and pepper. Use your hands to shape the chilled potato mixture into round patties, and pat into the flour, coating on all sides. Repeat with rest of potato mixture.

Coat a heavy nonstick skillet with a layer of oil and heat over medium-high heat. Fry the patties in batches, 2-3 minutes on each side until golden and heated through. Don’t be impatient. Let them brown. Place on a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

To serve, top each cake with a dollop of sour cream and a piece of smoked salmon. Make about 10 cakes, depending on size.

Prepare the filling:
In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and sautee for 5 minutes, until the onions are transluscent. Add the garlic and lamb and cook until all the meat is browned. Season with kosher salt and black pepper, then sprinkle with the flour and stir to coat. Pour int the beef stock, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and add the fresh rosemary. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low, cover, and let cook for about 15 minutes until sauce thickens. Remove the rosemary sprigs and stir in the frozen peas and fresh parsley. Season to taste with kosher salt and pepper. Then remove from heat and let cool completely (can be chilled in fridge overnight).

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Prepare the mashed potatoes: Cut potatoes into large chunks and combine in a large pot of salted water. Bring to a boil then lower heat and let cook for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are completely tender. Turn off heat, drain immediately, then return potatoes to the pot to rest for 10 minutes (this will help them dry out a bit). Use a potato ricer or masher to mash the potatoes right in the pot. Add the milk, cream, and butter, and continue to stir and mash until completely smooth. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, then let cool completely (can be chilled in fridge overnight).

Place filling in dish. Top with mashed potatoes, sealing around edges to prevent mixture from bubbling up. Smooth over wit rubber spatula to make it airtight. Place in middle rack of of oven and bake until potatoes begin to brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove and cool for at least 10 minutes.

Patrick suffered much in Ireland and there was always the danger that he would be killed, yet the saint kept on preaching about Jesus.….How happy he was to bring the Good News of the true God to the people who once held him a slave.~Holy Spirit Interactive

My parents used to treat my sis and I to flavored popcorn. There was a small snack shop in the mall that had a variety of flavored popcorn. My favorite was bubblegum. It has been a long time since I’ve enjoyed that yummy treat.

I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to treat my GFG to a childhood novelty of mine.
I made green lemon-lime flavored popcorn, AKA Good News Popcorn, in honor of St. Patrick. The children loved the Good News.

Remove the syrup from the stove. Slowly and carefully stir in the Kool-Aid mixture -- the mixture may ooze.

Pour sugar mixture over the popped popcorn. Carefully mix all until combined.

Place the coated popcorn into the oven for 30 min. Stir every 10 minutes.

Take popcorn out of the oven. Break it apart once it starts to cool.

Enjoy the GOOD NEWS!

Hence, then, I give unwearied thanks to God, who kept me faithful in the day of my temptation, so that today I can confidently offer Him my soul as a living sacrifice--to Christ my Lord, who saved me out of all my troubles. Thus I can say: `Who am I, O Lord, and to what have Thou called me, Thou who did assist me with such divine power that to-day I constantly exalt and magnify Thy name among the heathens wherever I may be, and not only in good days but also in tribulations?' So indeed I must accept with equanimity whatever befalls me, be it good or evil, and always give thanks to God, who taught me to trust in Him always without hesitation, and who must have heard my prayer so that I, however ignorant I was, in the last days dared to undertake such a holy and wonderful work--thus imitating somehow those who, as the Lord once foretold, would preach His Gospel for a testimony to all nations before the end of the world. So we have seen it, and so it has been fulfilled: indeed, we are witnesses that the Gospel has been preached unto those parts beyond which there lives nobody.

We give thee thanks, almighty God, for all your benefits, who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.

May the Lord grant us His peace. And life everlasting. Amen.

Alternate conclusion:And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

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